I like to check out the people who are running for public office and there are a lot of nice tools around that make it easy to do just that. We have OpenSecrets.org to check out the national contributions list.
There is also a way to check out contributions in Massachusetts to political candidates. I can visit the website for the OCPF Electronic Filing & Campaign Disclosure System online( http://www.efs2.cpf.state.ma.u… ) and see who is giving money within our state.
Imagine my surprise when I found that Ed O’Reilly, a Democratic challenger to John Kerry for the US Senate nomination, has given to Republican Suffolk Sheriff Frank G. Cousins,Jr. Ed gave him money not once or twice, but four times.
The Globe reported a while back that the State GOP tried to recruit Cousins to take on Ted Kennedy for Senate in the 2005-06 election cycle. So, Ed O’Reilly, who claims to be the purest Democrat in all of the Commonwealth, gave money to a Republican who was being groomed to take on Ted Kennedy. (Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/loc… )
The Mass OCPF site says that O’Reilly gave $250 to Cousins in March and July of 2005 and then again in March and August of 2006.
So is Ed really a True-Blue Democrat as he claims or a Lieberman Democrat who hedges his bets,disregards Party loyalty and rewards friends. I really want to know.
I do not know why O’Reilly gave money to Cousins. I don’t know a lot about him. But being a Lieberman Democrat is not about “party loyalty”. It is about supporting a bankrupt foreign policy. Supporting a Republican is not a wholesale indictment of a progressive, as O’Reilly has shown himself to be.
is running at Kerry from the left. Pro-SSM, pro-single-payer health care, and so forth. Not exactly Lieberman-esque.
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p>Joe is his own brand of wonderfulness, sui generis.
It may be a stretch to call O’Reilly a Lieberman — though it is interesting he donates to Republicans — but there is one similarity: it seems clear to me that he’s in this more for his own ego than to help the Democratic Party. Otherwise he’d think more about his choice of target. Back in ’06, before the mis-read joke, John Kerry was considered the Democrats’ greatest asset in working to win a Democratic majority in Congress. He campaigned tirelessly and sent out fundraising e-mails to his list for Dems all over the country. Democrats running for office in state after state were grateful that Kerry came and stumped with them and asked his list for support, and Dem leaders commented that Kerry was an awesome asset to the cause. You can find all this easily with a google search, but somehow I get the feeling people don’t know about it or have forgotten.
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p>I don’t know how many people know that Kerry was one of very few big-name Dems to endorse Ned Lamont, do fundraising for Lamont, and come to CT to stump for him. Kerry attacked Lieberman publicly for his “stay the course” position on Iraq and for misrepresenting himself when he suddenly claimed to be pro-peace during the campaign. Here’s a DailyKos diary by Lamont campaign people that gives a breakdown of who did what to help Ned Lamont. They call John Kerry “one of two rock stars for the campaign” and said: “Senator Kerry was by far and away the most helpful senator to the campaign.”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/…
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p>The bottom line is, John Kerry went out there and busted his hump to build a Democratic majority, including supporting people like Ned Lamont who had the backing of a majority of Democratic primary voters and who would’ve taken out a pseudo-Dem like Joe Lieberman. Google it and see — there’s simply no question that Kerry’s tireless, nigh-unto-obsessive work in 2006 was a significant factor in winning a slim Dem majority in the House and Senate.
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p>But now Ed O’Reilly doesn’t want Kerry to give his undivided attention to increasing the Democratic majority and putting a Dem in the White House in ’08; instead, he wants Kerry to have to spend time, energy and money dealing with Ed’s ego-driven quest for fame. So maybe Ed isn’t exactly a Lieberman, but he definitely isn’t someone who’s thinking about the big picture of what’s best for the Democratic Party or the country. Instead, supposedly in the name of “high ideals,” he’s in there entirely for himself. And in that respect, he does in fact remind me very much of Joe Lieberman.
have very short memories. Particularly, it seems, when it comes to Kerry.
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p>Thanks for reminding me.
How dare O’Reilly distract Kerry by making him defend his seat, his votes, and his actions! It’s downright…Democratic!
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p>Let me just say this:
Kerry was right on Ned Lamont.
He is still wrong on education, marriage equality, and Iraq.
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p>I love Ned, but that’s no contest.
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p>PS: If you’re discussing John Kerry, I’d advise avoiding the topic of large egos. Kerry’s is as big as it comes.
Kerry is in favor of withdrawing troops from Iraq immediately. He introduced the first binding legislation to get the troops out of Iraq, back in 2005 (it got 13 votes in favor). He has continually pushed for Congress to get the troops out of there. In what specific way is he “wrong on Iraq”?
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p>To my knowledge, Kerry has never voted against same-sex marriage — he voted no on DOMA, for instance. He also did not endorse the amendment to the MA constitution to ban same-sex marriage. When Bill Clinton urged him to endorse anti-gay marriage legislation in 2004 to boost his candidacy for the presidency, Kerry flatly refused.
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p>I have no idea what the education comment refers to.
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p>And yes, the fact that this is a democracy means that Ed O’Reilly has a right to waste people’s time and energy as much as he wants to, instead of helping the Democrats this year. But the rest of us can still call it as we see it. There’s plenty of serious work to be done to take back our country from Bushco; running against one of the strongest champions we’ve got in the Senate — one whom the Republicans would really love to get out of the way — is not even remotely helpful.
John Kerry is late on Iraq and he was WRONG on Iraq. He stuck his finger in the political wind and sold his soul in 2002 and for that reason, I will never support him in a primary again. THAT is how he is “wrong in Iraq.” Save me the talking points about John’s post-2004 leadership and how he wasn’t voting to invade- we’ve heard it all before. He voted against his principles because he was running for President.
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p>And, while your here, Noisy Democrat, please tell us what it is about John Kerry’s honor that brings you out of the woodwork? How is it that you, Diane, Luftmensch, Kirsten and ralbertson all happen to be regular lurkers who just happen to post only on topics related to John Kerry? Coincidence? I think not.
I’m not a paid staffer for Kerry, if that’s what you’re implying, and never have been. I’m a busy person running her own business, and generally speaking, I only get worked up enough to post on Kerry-related topics. Though I do shoot my mouth off about Obama over on DailyKos from time to time. If I don’t notice Kerry-related diaries myself, I tend to hear about them from my friends, who know I’m a dedicated supporter and would want to put in her two cents’ worth. So?
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p>Anyway, it appears that the argument for Ed O’Reilly boils down to, “If somebody voted the wrong way 6 years ago, it doesn’t matter what they do right after that, screw ’em.” (And by the way, screw the rest of the country, which needs people like John Kerry to turn back the radical Right.) It’s pretty harsh and nasty, and not much of an endorsement for Ed.
of why it is that I post here mostly on threads about Kerry.
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p>I’m so far from a “paid blogger” that it’s laughable.
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p>I read the threads here, but truth be told am not a very political person, and on most subjects regarding local politics I need to read in order to learn. I don’t post when I don’t feel I have anything intelligent to add to the conversation. I also have, like, a family and a job, and better things to do with my scarce free time than exchange insults with faceless strangers.
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p>I have been a supporter of Kerry for something like 30 years. Our paths have crossed a few times over the years, and I’ve found him to be a very different person from the man who is regularly – and gleefully – insulted in the local newsrags. And in threads here. I hated Kerry’s vote on the Iraq resolution, but I try to pay attention to the totality of his work, most of which I find stellar. And when I read lies about him, I feel compelled to respond.
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p>Respect for Kerry caused me to volunteer for the first time in 2004, and we’re talking cold-call, office grunt work and standing-out-in-the-rain-with-a-sign volunteering.
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p>I believe in the right to dissent, but I don’t believe in the right to disrespect. Reading through most of the comments here makes me wonder why I bother to respond at all. Some here seem to keep an open mind, but many others just seem to want to sneer.
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p>So, go ahead and sneer. You can call me whatever you want to call me, but it won’t change the facts. I’m not paid by anyone except my place of employment, and my work has nothing whatsoever to do with politics. The facts are, that as big and noisy a fuss as you want to make to the contrary, there a great many people who think highly of Senator Kerry. But if you want to think there are only 5 of us, be my guest.
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p>And you might give some thought to the atmosphere you create in this “community” website, where people’ integrity is questioned because they voice an unpopular opinion. If you really want vigorous debate you won’t get it through name-calling.
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p>But to get back to your question: what brings me to comment on these threads? Lies. Lies and attempted intimidation. Lies and distortion.
You must be reading a different thread than I am, because I must have missed all the name-calling. I just happened to note the coincidence of how several people who hardly ever post on BMG all happened to converge on this one, relatively trivial topic at the same time.
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p>I find it amusing that all four of you who responded to deny that it was any sort of orchestrated effort each used the phrases “paid blogger” or “paid staffer” in your reactions when neither I nor anyone else actually used those phrases. I’m guessing you’ve heard it before.
both here and on DU. From people who refuse to give Kerry credit for having accomplished anything and who refuse to acknowledge that there exist people who – voluntarily – want to help him.
Since you appear to be sincere in your support for Senator Kerry I apologize if I have misconstrued your role.
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p>However, please recognize what I am saying and why people might get this impression. There are a number of people on BMG… DU, DailyKos, wherever… who have pet issues and areas where they get most fired up. But this small group of John Kerry supporters is unique in that they only show up to either defend Kerry or attack his opponent and offer no other opinions on healthcare, marriage, Iraq, state races, Ted Kennedy’s health, etc.
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p>You’ve each stated that you’re busy people who don’t have time to hang out on message boards, but then you all congregate on a thread about a donation to a Republican candidate for sherriff? That’s an unusual level of loyalty for any office holder and I hope you can see why people might get suspicious of your motives.
As I said before, I only comment when I feel I have something meaningful to add to the conversation, which is not often. The people who comment here seem by and large to be heavily invested in local politics, which I am not – and I don’t usually feel qualified to add anything.
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p>What fires me up about the comments about Kerry is how often lies, half-truths, and the untrue-but-accepted-as-common-knowledge make their way into print. It’s hard for me to understand how people so well-versed in politics know so little about their own senator.
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p>”He’s arrogant” For every story repeated about his purported arrogance, there are three more about his kindness and thoughtfulness and – yes – humility that oddly are never mentioned at all.
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p>”He didn’t fight” This is just stupid. If he’d had a whistle-blower, or any shred of hard evidence he could have produced in court to make his case, do you think he would have let it go? Come on. The BCCI guy? The Iran/Contra investigator? Lacking the guts to fight? Just plain stupid.
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p>None of this is directed at you personally – you just had the bad luck to call me out by name đŸ˜€ – but these are honest objections on my part. And there’s a hard core around here of the guilty on this particular subject.
Actually, I have a 4-year-long history of supporting Senator Kerry in the blogosphere, but no history at all of working as part of his staff. The things I see going on with this primary challenge are deeply upsetting to me personally, and in this case, I felt the need to get some things off my chest that have been bothering me for a long time. When someone like Senator Kerry is one of the strongest advocates we all have in the Senate — when he’s knocking himself out to try to expose corruption and get the troops out of Iraq and build a Democratic majority and restore sanity to our country — I honestly don’t understand why anyone would think it’s a good idea to relentlessly attack him and try to tear him down. Don’t we have real enemies to fight? Anyway, I expressed how I feel about it in my first comment. My point is, it came from my heart, and every so often, when the subject of the primary comes up, etc., I just feel a need to express what I think and feel about it.
much to my disappointment, has made it abundantly clear that he opposes marriage equality.
It’s true that he hasn’t proactively championed marriage equality, but neither has he done anyting to opposite. He has championed civil unions and fought for other protections of rights for gays. That’s why he’s been endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign. As their press release on it said, “Senator Kerry has been an outspoken leader for GLBT equality in the United States Senate. Most recently,Senator Kerry’s leadership was crucial to the advancement of legislation to lift the discriminatory HIV travel ban. We are pleased to endorse Senator Kerry for re-election and look forward to working with him
on achieving equality for our community.”
…are not the same as marriage. He does oppose marriage equality…he did when he was running for President and he does still. And to me, that’s really a shame because he knows better.
Note HRCs statement is missing something – it doesn’t say that Kerry supports gay marriage. I do believe if he did support gay marriage they would likely say so in their endorsement. Ya think?
before, during and after running for president. considering he is a high-powered us senator, i consider that “acting in opposition”. he’s been quote a steady lgbt supporter otherwise. i don’t understand his ongoing opposition to equal protection of the laws. must be true personal bigotry, is all i can figure.
This isn’t the Yankees and Red Sox.
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p>Any politician that thinks that a potenital Democratic nominee for Senante shouldn’t be the nominee because that candidiate once supported a Republican is a politician that puts party loyalty ahead of the good of the country.
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p>To hell with your party loyalty. This is the best thing that I have yet heard about Ed O’Reilly.
Maybe their kids were on the same ball team, who knows, not like it really makes a difference whether a Sheriff is an R or D, it’s a local office.
Not sure how this is an issue. I’d want to hear more. Are Cousins and O’Reilly personal friends? Do they have a professional relationship? Dunno. I’d need to hear more to care about his.
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p>As one who thinks O’Reilly makes no sense and it makes no sense to vote for him, I find this concern about donation history verges on being petty.
of how Lieberman kept basically trying to call Ned a Lieberman Democrat, for voting with Republicans in his local Selectmen Board…
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p>O’Reilly’s entire message is that he’ll support the entire State Dem platform because he a) believes in it and b) knows that’s what state dems want. So, I really don’t think he’s Republican-lite or anything like that.
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p>Do I think people should vote for him? That’s up to them. I’m probably going to vote for Kerry, but I like to keep an open mind. Kerry should have to work for my vote and, hopefully, this contest can bring him out from behind the curtain on so many of these issues, trying to paint himself as pro-civil unions, but not opposed to our state’s marriage, or pro-renewable energy, but pretty mum on Cape Wind, etc. He really needs to get out from behind those issues and win my vote and if O’Reilly can help Kerry do that, all the better.
Kerstin, not to attack the messenger here, but the only things you’ve ever posted on BMG in the last 11 months are either attacks on Ed O’Reilly or defenses of Senator Kerry.
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p>I would think some who is so concerned about party loyalty and who is or isn’t true blue would have commented on something other than this particular foregone race.
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p>Are you a Kerry staffer? Or are you just like Kerry himself- you only come around during election season?
I see that, of the two people who have recommended this diary, one manages the content for johnkerry.com. The other appears to be a BMG regular, who has a disproportionate number of posts/comments/recommends on topics related to… drumroll please…you guessed it, John Kerry.
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p>What this tells me is that the Junior Senator’s staff is trying to get a whisper campaign going to keep Ed O’Reilly from getting his 15% at the convention, all while the Senator himself ignores O’Reilly. Are they that concerned about a candidate with no money and no name recognition?
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p>I have no problem with campaigns and candidates using BMG as a tool, but please have the decency to disclose who you are or else you end up looking petty and cheap.
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p>I have said before that I don’t think Ed O’Reilly is ready for prime time, but I do intend to vote for him for two reasons:
1. John Kerry needs a kick in the pants.
2. O’Reilly has no chance of unseating a Democratic incumbent.
…for the record, I can tell you that I recommended this diary because it gave props to Senator Kerry for all the hard work he did on behalf of a whole slew of other Democratic candidates in 2006, something he often doesn’t get proper credit for (and, by the way, something he did long before I started managing online content for his websites).
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p>Senator Kerry campaigned tirelessly for other Democrats in person and via the broadcast media in 2006, and he and the johnkerry.com community raised over $14 million for more than 260 Democratic candidates and committees in 43 states. His efforts had a lot to do with taking back the House and Senate for the Democratic Party in 2006, and he has made a strong commitment to doing every bit as much for other Democrats to consolidate those gains in 2008. I happen to believe that’s something John Kerry can and should be proud of, so I recommended this diary because it underscored that under-reported truth.
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p>While I am a registered Democrat and a citizen of Massachusetts, I very rarely post on BMG myself because of my professional affiliation with a particular politician. However, like everyone who works for the Senator, I clearly disclose that affiliation in my profile (obviously) and in a sig line whenever I do post anything online. That is a core policy in the John Kerry organization, and one we all take quite seriously. If anyone who works for us posts anything on BMG, or anywhere else for that matter, you can always tell because we always disclose our connection with the Senator.
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p>The corollary to that, of course, is that if somebody posts something about John Kerry without disclosing such an affiliation, then they do not work for us. They are not secret staffers, sock puppets, or “paid bloggers” (as some have been known to spuriously claim). That’s not the way we do things in this organization. Others might, perhaps, but we do not. That’s an iron-clad rule for us. Period.
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p>Senator Kerry does have a community of avid online supporters, which he has earned though his years of service to the country in general and to the Democratic Party in particular. But they are supporters, not shills. They write what they write when they want to write it and because they want to write it. For anyone to suggest otherwise would be just plain wrong at best, and suspiciously specious at worst.
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p>In the John Kerry organization, we don’t pay bloggers. And we always disclose who we are when we post — as you can clearly see from my sig line below. That’s our policy, and that’s our practice. And that’s the simple truth.
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p>I will go back to quietly lurking again now, since I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to be posting publicly on outside forums when I clearly do have a dog in this fight. My words in this comment are strictly my own, not those of anyone else in my organization. But given the way that the spurious “paid blogger” accusation has been known to pop up every so often on BMG and elsewhere, I thought it was important to get the facts plainly on the record here.
I manage online content for http://www.johnkerry.com and http://www.roadblockrepublicans.com
While I could certainly take issue with how much Senator Kerry has really helped other Democrats prior to his 2006 epiphany, I appreciate your candor.
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p>Paid staffers or not, I am still suspect that the original poster has no track record here other than posting Kerry talking points. The whole thing seems a little more than coincidental and, really, reflects more on the Kerry campaign than the original target.
First off, I was called away unexpectedly, or I would have been more timely with m replies.
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p>I am not a paid staffer for anyone. I am just another Mass citizen with a mortgage to pay, taxes to worry about and concern for all the issues that everyone else is concerned about. I resent the fact that every time someone disagrees with Mr. O’Reilly, that poster gets accused of being a ‘paid blogger.’ That is an insulting argument.
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p>I am a supporter of John Kerry, which would explain my interest in setting records straight and exposing misstatements spread by his opponents. I can read, use google, do my own research and post based on what I found. Is this what Ed’s people think of bloggers, that they are too stupid to do their own research. If so, that is a sad misunderstanding of what blogging means and a
poor sign that Mr. O’Reilly thinks the average citizen of Massachusetts is dumb and has to be coached or paid to form an opinion. How sad.
Please hold your faux indignation. If you’re accused of being “paid bloggers” it’s because you have but one string on your guitar and every song sounds alike. In 11 months, you’ve posted 3 diaries and 19 comments- every last one of them on the topics of John Kerry or Ed O’Reilly, so you can’t act surprised when folks think you have an ulterior motive.
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p>I’m on here enough to know that I didn’t recognize several of the names of people commenting on and recommending this diary, so when I clicked on the different names I saw that the one thing they all had in common was that they only commented on Kerry diaries. Five different people care enough about John Kerry to come defend him at the drop of a hat and attack his opponent, but don’t care enough about his causes to chime in on any of hundreds of other issues that are discussed on here? What a remarkable coincidence!
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p>Your mistake is assuming that anyone here is “Ed’s people.” If anything, I’ve seen folks on BMG, myself included, distancing themselves from Ed O’Reilly because he’s just not a good candidate. But that doesn’t mean he won’t get 30%.
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p>Know this- we will all come home in November because we understand that this fight is bigger than any one race. But Senator Kerry should not assume that this is an endorsement of his shoddy constituent services and his too little, too late overtures on either Iraq or equal marriage.
And the FEC says:
$1500 to Howard Dean
$2000 to John Kerry
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p>How does that fit into your “Liebermanesque” thesis?
FEC states $5,500 in federal contributions to Democrats. (Since 1998)
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p>OCPF Shows $11,710.00 in state-level contributions to Democrats. (Since 2002)
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p>Total: $17,210 to Dems. The Cousins contributions represent 5% of total contributions.
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p>So this post is ludicrous, considering how generous he has been to state- and federal level Democrats. Moreover, we don’t know the context of those contributions.
I plan on supporting O’Reilly at the Convention and these lame-ass astro-turfing efforts by the Kerry campaign to undermine his credibility will only make me a more ardent supporter…
Ah, but you missed the best part of the FEC reports. Take a look at who and how much John Kerry has donated to candidates for federal office.
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p>If you remove the $25,000 he has donated to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (conveniently located at his Louisburg Square home, basically stopped spending in 2004, and supported by 97,000 individuals) and remove the $6.387 million he donated to his own presidential campaign then you see our junior senator has donated a whopping $8,000 to federal candidates (none from MA I might add.)
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p>Three cheers. Oy.
Come on, do you really think John Kerry sits at home writing personal checks to people? Like everyone else involved in politics, he has a PAC (or maybe a couple I think).
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p>It took me all of 5 minutes to find this info. He’s raised and donated tens of thousands over the last year to help build the Dem majority in the Senate.
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p>This is in the last year, just from his Campaign for our Country PAC-
$30,000 to the DSCC
$5000 to Tim Johnson
$2000 to Jeanne Shaheen
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p>And about $20,000 for Dems looking to knock out Collins, Dole, Coleman, McConnell and a few others.
my understanding is that his PAC money is leftover 2004 cash.
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p>I understand that many have been critical that he did not contribute more of that money.
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p>PI’s point is that, while it is clear looking at EOR’s records that he is personally invested (i.e. through his own earnings) in helping the Democratic cause, it is harder to see that looking at Kerry’s records.
This is laughable. Ed O’Reilly has donated money to his political buddies in Cape Ann– that is the sum total of his “helping the Democratic cause”– and all of the donations are so transparently self-serving.
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p>John Kerry has raised millions for Democrats across the country, traveled the country to work and fundraise for them and gone head-to-head with the most despicable of Republicans on their behalf.
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p>Suggesting Ed O’Reilly is more “personally invested” in Democratic causes than John Kerry is so ridiculous I’m concerned there are people out there who believe it and we let those people walk freely among us.
and looking solely at personal contributions this is not a far-out suggestion.
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p>But again, when you cherry-pick contributions from these filings it is easy to make stupid, slanderous accusations.
Maybe I’ll hire superlawyer/lobsterman/firefighter/defender of the Constitution Ed O’Reilly to represent me.
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p>This is so hysterical. God, I love you, Leonidas. You just made my night. Just the fact that there’s someone in this world so invested in Ed freakin’ O’Reilly that they would accuse someone of slander on his behalf tickles me to no end.
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p>I mean, it’s Ed O’Reilly. The guy would be a dodgy State Representative candidate but here you are, yelling from the rooftops that Ed O’Reilly belongs in the U.S. Senate. He has spent the last 20 years representing drunk drivers, drug dealers and domestic abusers, has absolutely, positively no idea what he’s talking about and has never, ever, ever, ever accomplished anything in politics. And here you are, sitting at home, getting all fired up for this guy! I mean, you’re an honest to God Ed O’Reilly supporter, come hell or high water, you’re going to Lowell and you’re gonna fight for your man, Ed!
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p>Honestly, you’re gonna make history in Lowell, Leonidas. When you vote for Ed O’Reilly, feel proud that you’re voting for the first ever MA U.S. Senate candidate who defended a woman caught smuggling heroin, hidden in her vagina, into his hometown.
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p>And I’m the stupid one.
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p>
I was referring to the original post, of course.
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p>Go back and connect-the-dots.
Like I care whether you’re throwing the slander card my way or someone else’s. You’re doing it on behalf of Ed O’Reilly which makes me question whether you’re one of the 32 people (or so) who’ve donated to Ed’s campaign, Ed himself (which I doubt because I would imagine that Ed’s stammering, virtually incoherent speaking style would translate to his writing) or just someone who wants to make me laugh.
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p>Ed O’Reilly is in this race for Ed O’Reilly. This is an ego trip of epic proportions. He has no progressive track record, no history of doing anything for his community, no list of accomplishments to point to during his very brief tenure in Gloucester city government and no solutions to the very short list of issues he’s been talking about for over a year.
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p>Just admit that you’re supporting Ed O’Reilly because he isn’t John Kerry and stop pretending that he is any way, shape or form someone who should be considered for the U.S. Senate.
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p>And I will connect the dots on Ed O’Reilly. I think a nice, long diary connecting all the dots of your candidate for the Senate is long past due. All I wanna do is live of the fatta the lan and tend to the rabbits, Leonidas, but I’ll write a diary about Ed O’Reilly if ya want me too, Leonidas.
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p>
The original post was intending to show something about O’Reilly due to his campaign contribution to a republican. Kerry has little to show from his personal contributions because he has made no personal contributions.
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p>He has, however, taken donations from us (the public and his supporters) and put that money into other candidate’s coffers. Not his own money, ours.
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p>I’m not trying to say this makes Kerry an illegitimate candidate but I think it reflects upon the candidate at least as much as pointing out that O’Reilly once gave money to a republican candidate.
The only reason I’m supporting O’Reilly at the convention is because he is not John Kerry (and because I know he won’t win).
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p>But Ed is a dreadful candidate- from his weak record to his shaky command of the issues to his support for that bigot Spiliotis and his irresponsible Swift Boat comments- he is a mess.
O’Reilly a “Lieberman Democrat”…that is a scream! O’Reilly is more liberal that Kerry! (And like Obama, was against the Iraq War from the get-go…unlike Kerry)
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p>Study up, Kerstin…you have O’Reilly pegged incorrectly here.
i am not familiar with that republican or the district he ran in.
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p>let me tell you a little story. i worked hard to get a republican state senator elected last term. why? because they were the best that the district had to offer (no dem had a prayer of winning). not all republicans are nasty, and sometimes long-range strategy means supporting the best from among those you do not prefer.
I don't have a problem with Ed donating to a Republican, well not a big problem. I think it's somewhat sketchy for a DUI lawyer to be donating money to sheriffs and district attorneys (actually, it's probably sketchier for sheriffs and district attorneys to be accepting money from local DUI lawyers) but I'm no Jack McCoy so who knows.
What confuses me is that one of the things Ed is always harping on is marriage equality. But while he tries to potray himself as someone who has spent years working to advance marriage rights, he hasn't put his money where his mouth is. In fact, if you look at the history of his personal donations, it's only in the last year or so (conveniently around the time he announced he was running)he gave money to progressive candidates.
Before that, back when he was just Ed O'Reilly, Cape Ann's #1 DUI attorney, his political contributions aren't even close to those of someone who was concerned about marriage equality or any progressive values really.
What's particularly suprising is that he has donated and continued to donate to Joyce Spiliotis despite her rabid opposition to marriage equality. He's given her $1000 through the years, both before and after her opposition to marriage equality and after that lovely moment when she accused gay people of being pedophiles.
Ed O'Reilly has a track record on marriage equality– it's just not one he will own up to.
I received the following self-refuting request for money from the O’Reilly campaign:
There you have it. In two paragraphs, a contradiction. Was Kerry not ambitious enough to be President or is he over-ambitious? O’Reilly wants you to be irked at Kerry for ambition and lack of ambition — for the same thing! He wants to have it both ways.
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p>(The consensus on Ohio was that there was massive Republican manipulation but that we still fell short even if one takes that into account.)
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p>Or read this posting from Mr O’Reilly on his blog. This is about the famous “Don’t taze me bro’ incident.” Subsequently, we learn that the event occurred out of Kerry’s earshot and that the guy was actually looking to make a spectacle of himself. You and I know this, but note: no update on O’Reilly’s site. Hm. Will this guy say anything negative he can about Kerry no matter whether it is accurate or not, wise or not? Apparently.
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p>But reflect a little though on Mr. O’Reilly’s comment. He’s accusing Kerry of lacking quick reflexes, of having “analysis paralysis”. Is Senator Kerry is a forward on a soccer team? Is he a President responding to an immediate crisis? Uh, no! He’s a Senator. We want Senators to be deliberative. Is Mr. O’Reilly suggesting that as a Senator he’ll make quick snap judgments? Do we need that? I suggest we do not.
Here’s the really funny thing about this accusation – if you go to OCPF’s website you can see that Senator John Kerry has donated exactly zero dollars to MA candidates.
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p>His committee has made a few donations, his brother Cameron has made many donations, but none from the Senator’s wallet.
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p>Zero. Nothing. Nada. Anybody have information about the Senator’s charitable donations?
I do know that John Kerry For President sat on $15 mil at the end of the 2004 campaign that could have helped in dozens of Congressional races, but that probably doesn’t count either, does it?
I just got in from a long night in Springfield.
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p>I’ll respond to this tomorrow. For now, I want to say that Sheriff Cousins is a leader in substance abuse programs and I am a firm believer in treatment.
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p>I’ll get into this more tomorrow, which is actually today, isn’t it?
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p>Ed O’Reilly
Substance abuse is a big issue for me and Sheriff Cousins has been a leader in alcohol and drug treatment programs. As an example, prior to Sheriff Cousins’ tenure, female prisoners who were sentenced to the House of Corrections ended up in a State Prison with little, if any, treatment options available. Sheriff Cousins, along with his excellent staff, opened a facility exclusively designed for women with substance abuse problems. It is a very successful program located in Salisbury and is called Women in Transition or better known as WIT. It is a no nonsense approach to treatment.
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p>At the Essex County Jail and House of Corrections, Sheriff Cousins has implemented the SATCO program Many of my clients over the last twenty five years have suffered from substance abuse and I firmly believe in treatment programs. In my experience, well over 80% of all crime is connected in some way to substance abuse.
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p>Let me just say one more thing about the Sheriffs in Massachusetts. The Sheriffs all across this state handle prisoners who are going to some day be released back into their communities. The jails and houses of corrections are different from State Prisons. The Sheriffs realize they have an opportunity to really make a difference. From the day a person walks into the House of Corrections, the Sheriffs begin the process of preparing that person for their eventual reintegration into society. There is no doubt the Sheriffs of Massachusetts are not only tough on crime, but smart on crime and I applaud each and every one of them.
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p>This is the number one reason I gave money to Sheriff Cousins. Treatment not only helps individuals, but it also lessens crime in our society.
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p>Please allow me to take this to another, more personal level. I have not had a drink of alcohol for nearly twenty years and I try to start each day with a bit of gratitude. This is who I am. It is no mystery why my law practice involved people with substance abuse issues. I don’t know a whole lot about estate planning, but I do understand the complexities involved in substance abuse treatment.
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p>Now let’s talk about political donations-financial and otherwise. When I was younger and had no money, I worked for Mike Dukakis and Lt. Governor Thomas O’Neill. My family and I have always been there to support the Kennedys. I can remember young Joe Kennedy coming to my aunt’s home when he was Ted’s campaign manager. To Joe’s credit, it was quite obvious he didn’t have the suit and tie thing quite down. When Joe Kennedy ran for Congress the first time in the Watertown area, my family and I were there to help him. In college, I boarded a bus at UMass/Amherst and canvassed neighborhoods in Meriden, Connecticut for George McGovern.
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p>I encourage Kerstin to keep digging in the financial records on the national, state and local levels. The one most glaring donation you must have noticed is the $2,000 maximum contribution I gave to Senator Kerry during the 2004 election. You will also note that I gave a sizeable amount to my first choice for the Democratic Presidential nomination, Howard Dean. I also helped sponsor a fundraiser for Senator Kerry approximately 15 years ago. In fact, I introduced him at that event.
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p>You must have noticed, Kerstin, I donated to Shannon O’Brien’s campaign when she ran for Governor. What you didn’t see was the other money I helped raise for her when I hosted a party at my home in Gloucester.
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p>As you were perusing the records, did you see when Salem Attorney John Tierney first announced he was running against Republican Congressman Peter Torkildson that I was there to support him? After John lost the first time, did you notice I was there again to assist him in helping to put the seat back into Democratic hands? Did you notice that I continue to support Congressman Tierney who had the moral courage to vote against Iraq military action?
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p>During the last election cycle, I tried to help returning Iraq veterans unseat Republicans. Since you have the time to look up records, could you tell me if I donated to people like Pennsylvania Democrats Chris Carney or Patrick Murphy who ran in traditional Republican areas? Did I give to one or both?
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p>On the state level, you must have seen the dozens of contributions to Democrats on all levels of government. I don’t want to put anyone in a difficult situation, but if you are going to list one or two, why don’t you print out the entire list with names and dates of contributions? I’d greatly appreciate this effort as I am really working hard on the campaign trail and don’t have the time you seem to have. Would you be kind enough to go back twenty years and print every donation to every candidate on every level-national, state and local? Didn’t I give some money to the National Democratic Party as well?
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p>Kerstin, did you know that I have also given money to DFA, Move On, and other progressive organizations? I supported Howard Dean, not because I was betting on the strongest horse, but because he showed political courage with his opposition to the Iraq War while Senator Kerry did not. I was firmly against military authorization in Iraq.
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p>I find it ironic that donating to Sheriff Cousins is being drummed up as an issue. Didn’t Senator Kerry take millions of dollars from a Republican in his quest for the Presidency? Even after their marriage, Teresa Heinz continued to be a registered Republican–until 2003. Senator Kerry took a $6m or $7m loan from their townhouse to help boost his campaign and knock Howard Dean out of the Presidential race.
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p>Why did Senator Kerry pay himself back the money he loaned to the Presidential race in 2004, while he kept the $15m left over from funds ordinary Americans gave to him in order put an end to this GWB regime? Why didn’t he at least use some of this money to contest the election results in Ohio?
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p>I may have donated to one Republican in my life, but John Kerry gave the Republicans the entire election in 2004.
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p>Perhaps Senator Kerry could not legally return this $15m to donors, but nearly a year ago, I called upon Senator Kerry to donate this money to Veterans organizations and others who have lost so much due to Senator Kerry siding with President Bush and the Republicans in authorizing military action in Iraq–for Senator Kerry’s own political ambition.
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p>Kerstin, did you notice, as you were reading the FEC reports, what John Kerry did with this $15 million? Did you see that he took $7.2 million dollars and transferred it to his Massachusetts Senate race? This was money earmarked to defeat George W. Bush and Company.
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p>Kerstin, did you get to go to Senator Kerry’s campaign kick off event? This should be the most inclusive event in a campaign and yet, Senator Kerry charged a $1,000 cover charge and a $2,300 fee for a private reception with him and Teresa. Is this equal access to government? In order to have influence, access is the first step and it is abundantly clear that Senator Kerry is not accessible to the ordinary people of Massachusetts.
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p>How is it that J.P. Morgan can call the Federal Reserve Bank and negotiate a multi billion dollar deal in a matter of days that leaves the taxpayers holding the risk? How did a company called Black Rock get a multi million dollar contract out of this without a public bidding process? The answer is that the wealthy have access to government in a way that ordinary working class taxpayers do not. If a person is being foreclosed upon in Lowell, Lawrence, Brockton, Boston, New Bedford, Worcester, Springfield, Holyoke or any other place in Massachusetts, can that person call the federal reserve bank and get this
type of help? It would be amazing to get past a receptionist. It is painfully obvious that ordinary Americans do not have the same access to government as the wealthy and privileged do. How does this happen? It begins with fundraisers such as Senator Kerry’s.
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p>It is clear Senator Kerry lives in a world of private jets and economic privilege while paying obligatory homage to the working people of Massachusetts a few months every six years. Most people see through this.
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p>John Kerry lives in another world and visits our world.
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p>Kerstin, did you come across donations to Senator Kerry from the people at Romney’s old firm–Bain Capital? Do you think there is any connection between these donations and the fact that Senator Kerry was against having a vote on closing the tax loophole for hedge fund managers?
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p>Since you seem to be an avid reader, Kerstin, have you had a chance to read Robert Shrum’s latest book? As I am sure you are aware, Senator Kerry’s chief political advisor in the 2004 election, has stated that Senator Kerry KNEW his vote for military authorization in Iraq was wrong and yet, he still voted with President Bush because it was in Senator Kerry’s best political interest. Did you also know that Senator Kerry did not take the time to read the National Intelligence Estimate before he took the most important vote of this generation?
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p>I expected a flurry of activity from the Kerry campaign leading up to the Convention and I know there is a concerted effort by Senator Kerry and his campaign to try and keep me off the ballot. Despite how unpleasant the thought is of being any place in Massachusetts except for Nantucket in August, I believe, we as Massachusetts Democrats, need to keep a discussion going on Single Payer Health Care, the growing disparity of income between the wealthy and the working class, closing the tax loophole for Hedge Fund Managers, repealing the GPO and WEP provisions, ending the War in Iraq, ending special interests in Washington and establishing ways to think outside of the beltway such as establishing Not for Profit Renewable Energy Companies. We also need to stress the importance of having a U.S. Senator who truly represents Massachusetts and believes in the entire Massachusetts Democratic Party Platform including marriage equality. We can only move our platform forward if we take the time during this election season to debate these important issues.
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p>We need bold, compassionate change. The bottom line is that I am a person from a working class background and my stances are in complete line with the Massachusetts Democratic Party Platform.
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p>So, let’s get back to issues here on BMG.
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p>Thank you.
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p>Ed O’Reilly
http://www.edoreilly.com